CDA Journal Policies

The Journal of the California Dental Association is a peer-reviewed, monthly, open access journal that provides evidence-based information to improve dentists’ clinical care of their patients.

The Journal of the California Dental Association publishes review and original research articles along with content geared to provide dental professionals, educators and policymakers with current information across a wide range of topics including: 

• Translational articles enabling dentists to effectively incorporate evidence-based oral health research into their clinical practice.
• Evolving treatments in all areas of dentistry, including endodontics, oral and maxillofacial pathology and radiology, oral surgery, orthodontics, periodontics, prosthetics, pain management and more.
• Tools, guidelines and best practices for patient treatment.
• The relevance of public health research to clinical practitioners.
• Discussion of contemporary policy and legislative proposals relevant to dental education, practice and the delivery of dental services.
• Efficacy of medications in the treatment of dental disease.
• New product trends relevant to oral health, such as electronic cigarettes.
• Legal and practice management issues relevant to dental settings.
• Dental student-centric content.

The Journal of the California Dental Association publishes the following features:

• The Editor or the Associate Editor: Editorials by the editor-in-chief and the associate editors.
• Letters to the Editor
• Impressions: highlights of research and dental studies of interest to the readership.
• RM Matters: risk management issues of importance to dental practice such as patient selection, managing patients with HIV and medical identity theft.
• Regulatory Compliance: experts cover issues such as OSHA regulations, prescribing and dispensing controlled substances, mandated reporting and cybersecurity.
• Tech Trends: Practicing dentists describe dental and general technologies relevant to dental practice, such as security systems, Wi-Fi equipment, apps and 3D printers.

As a Gold Open Access publication, the Journal of the California Dental Association makes all articles immediately, permanently and freely available upon publication. In addition, article processing charges (APCs) are underwritten by the Association. Authors pay no APCs or submission fees to publish their articles in the Journal of the California Dental Association.

Advertising submitted to the Journal of the California Dental Association is reviewed by the editorial staff and its advisors. The California Dental Association (CDA) has the right to reject any advertisement for any reason, and the reasons need not be disclosed to the party submitting the advertisement. Advertising should clearly identify the advertiser and the product or service being offered.

Advertising should be clearly distinct from editorial content. Advertisements must not be deceptive or misleading or make false claims. Any advertisements that include indecent copy or contain negative content of a personal, racial, ethnic, medical, sexual orientation or religious character will not be accepted. Advertising of any product or service deemed detrimental to public health will be rejected upon receipt.

Products and services to be advertised must be effective, germane to and useful in the practice of dentistry or of interest to dentists and their families. Products and services and their indicated uses must conform to the principles of acceptable dental practice and of dental ethics. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco or cigarette-related products of any kind are not eligible for advertising in the Journal of the California Dental Association.

Acceptance of advertising should not be considered an endorsement or recommendation of any kind by CDA of the products or services being advertised. Acceptance also does not imply responsibility on the part of CDA to ensure that advertisers have complied with laws and regulations applicable to the marketing of their products. Acceptance of advertising does not imply that CDA has conducted an independent scientific review to validate any product’s safety, efficacy or other claims.

For the full statement of advertising standards as part of CDA’s advertising media kit.

CDA is dedicated to supporting perpetual access to Journal of the California Dental Association content to the extent that innovations in information technology allow. In 2018, CDA partnered with HathiTrust and the University of Michigan Library to produce digital copies of the Journal of the California Dental Association, which has changed names over the years from Transactions (1870) (serving the Northern and Southern California Dental Associations) to the Journal – Southern California State Dental Association (1934-1963) to the CDA Journal (1973-1983) to, currently, the Journal of the California Dental Association (since 1984). Digitized issues of the Journal of the California Dental Association can be accessed free of charge by all CDA members, libraries, institutions and members of the public here.

All manuscripts submitted to the Journal of the California Dental Association are considered for publication on the condition that they have not been submitted to or published in another publication (in print or online) or repository. All manuscripts and reviews are submitted via the online content management system Editorial Manager (www.editorialmanager.com/jcaldentassoc). The Journal of the California Dental Association does not accept submissions through any other method.

For a manuscript to be considered for publication, the author warrants to CDA as follows: (a) the manuscript is original (except for material in the public domain or as to which permission has been obtained from the copyright owner); (b) neither the manuscript nor one with substantially similar content under the author’s name has been published or is being considered for publication elsewhere; (c) that the author has identified in writing to CDA any material obtained from any source other than the author and has obtained all permissions required for the inclusion and reproduction of such material; and (d) the manuscript does not contain any libelous content or otherwise infringe on any personal or proprietary right of any person or entity.

CDA holds the copyright for all articles and artwork published in the Journal of the California Dental Association and thus requires all authors to transfer copyright to CDA prior to publication either online or in print. CDA reserves the right to illustrate, reduce the word count of or revise any accepted manuscript.

This policy is reflected in greater detail in the Journal of the California Dental Association Article Submission Agreement accessible through Editorial Manager and available for preview submission here.

The Journal of the California Dental Association is a monthly peer-reviewed publication that welcomes scientific reviews, original research articles and case reports, along with well-written and referenced manuscripts on other topics of interest to dentists. Those topics can be found in the Journal of the California Dental Association Aims and Scope. They include, but are not limited to:

• Translational articles enabling the dentist to effectively incorporate evidence-based oral health research into their clinical practice.
• Evolving treatments in all areas of dentistry such as endodontics, oral and maxillofacial pathology and radiology, oral surgery, orthodontics, periodontics, prosthetics, pain management, and more.
• Tools, guidelines and best practices for treatment of patients in a dental setting.
• The relevance of public health research to clinical oral health practitioners.
• Discussion of contemporary policy and legislative proposals relevant to dental education, practice and the delivery of dental services.
• Efficacy of medications in the treatment of dental disease.
• New product trends relevant to oral health, such as electronic cigarettes.
• Legal issues and practice management relevant to dental settings.
• History of dentistry and clinical practice.
   

Journal of the California Dental Association manuscripts can be invited or unsolicited. Solicited manuscripts and all supporting materials are due by the stated deadline in the “Invitation to Submit” email and undergo peer review. Unsolicited manuscripts may be submitted at any time and, if accepted following peer review, are published on a space-available basis.

Manuscripts should be no less than 1,000 words and no more than 6,000 words in length. The manuscript must have an abstract of no more than 75 words prefacing an introduction, body and conclusion.

Other requirements are:

• Formal language is expected.
• Third-person pronouns should be used.
• Recent references from respected sources are expected and adherence to the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) reference style is required.
• References must be numbered in order of their appearance within the text — do not duplicate references.
• Titles should be descriptive but reasonable in length.
• Images, charts and graphs must be attached as individual files when submitted to Editorial Manager. Each image must be in JPEG or TIFF format, at least 2.5 inches wide and at least 350 dpi in size. Do NOT embed figures, charts, graphs or tables into a Word document. Do not use any software program to increase the resolution artificially. Charts and graphs should be attached as Excel, Illustrator or Photoshop files. Supply native files; Photoshop and Illustrator files should be layered. Illustrations not adhering to these requirements will be rejected upon receipt and thus may delay the review of your manuscript.

Authors not abiding by these manuscript requirements and the reference requirements listed below can expect their submissions to be edited by the Journal of the California Dental Association staff.

The Journal of the California Dental Association follows the JADA reference style. Relevant information from the JADA author guidelines are provided here for Journal of the California Dental Association authors to follow.

All published references should be cited in the text and numbered consecutively. No references should be cited in the abstract. Each reference should be cited only once; on subsequent citations, the original number should be used. Personal communications and unpublished data should not be numbered, but should be cited in the text as follows: (G. Edmunds, DDS, oral communication, November 2004).

Citations for the following types of references should follow this basic style:

PERIODICAL

1. Lauterbach M, Martins IP, Castro-Caldas A, et al. Neurological outcomes in children with and without amalgam-related mercury exposure: seven years of longitudinal observations in a randomized trial. J Am Dent Assoc 2008:139(2):138–145.

BOOK

2. Cohen S, Burns RC. Pathways of the Pulp. 8th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2002: 196.

BOOK CHAPTER

3. Byrne BE, Tibbetts LS. Conscious sedation and agents for the control of anxiety. In: Ciancio SG, ed. ADA Guide to Dental Therapeutics. 3rd ed. Chicago: American Dental Association; 2003: 17–53.

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATION

4. Medicine for the public: Women’s health research. Bethesda, Md.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health; 2001. DHHS publication 02-4971.

WEBSITE

5. Hoffman ED, Klees BS, Curtis CA. Brief summaries of Medicare & Medicaid. Title XVIII and Title XIX of the Social Security Act as of November 1, 2007. Baltimore, MD.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary; 2007. www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicareProgramRatesStats/downloads/MedicareMedicaidSummaries2007.pdf Accessed Aug. 28, 2008.

PUBLICATION IN PRESS

6. McCoy J Alteration in periodontal status as an indicator of general health. J Am Dent Assoc (in press). NOTE: Authors should double check the status of any in-press work cited in their reference lists before submitting the final manuscript.

PRESENTATION

7. Eichenstadt L, Brenner T. Caries levels among low-income children: report of a three-year study. Paper presented at: 146th Annual Session of the American Dental Association; Oct. 7, 2005; Philadelphia.

Publication of the Journal of the California Dental Association adheres to the best practices and procedures in medical journal publishing as set forth by the major ethical standards organizations in the industry, namely the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the American Society of Healthcare Publication Editors (ASHPE). It undertakes a rigorous peer-review process, has strict advertising guidelines and supports the future preservation and access of its contents through its archiving activities.

Neither CDA editorial staff, the editor-in-chief, associate editors, senior editor or CDA are responsible for any expression of opinion or statement of fact, all of which are published solely on the author (or authors) whose name is attached to the published article.

Prior to publication, scientific reviews, original research, case reports and referenced manuscripts undergo a double-blind review (neither authors nor reviewers know each other’s identity). Reviewers are drawn from a database of qualified dentists and oral health professionals maintained in Editorial Manager.

The Journal of the California Dental Association is dedicated to publishing the most rigorously reviewed content, highest reproduction quality and relevant oral health-related information in a timely fashion. Manuscripts are reviewed by three experts in the area covered in the paper for scientific accuracy, clear writing style, appropriateness of content and quality of information. Reviewer comments and any suggestions for changes are shared with the author. If a substantial revision is recommended upon resubmission, the manuscript may be reviewed again by the original reviewers.

After an author’s manuscript passes peer review and the author responds to all reviewer’s recommendations for revisions, the manuscript will be scheduled for publication. The review process can take from two to six months to complete. Delays are normally caused by either difficulty in finding appropriate reviewers for the content or the time taken by individuals to return their reviews.

Reasons for a manuscript to be rejected include, but are not limited to:

• An opinion by the author is expressed within the manuscript.
• Insufficient, outdated or unfound references are included.
• Material that falls outside the mainstream thinking of dentistry is provided with poor or insufficient references.
• Information is at an elementary level for readers in terms of content or writing style.
• Information is of little or no interest to readers, the majority of whom practice general dentistry.
• Content is extremely poor in organization and writing style.

Disagreements with reviewer comments should be submitted via Editorial Manager using polite and professional language. Instances of alleged plagiarism should be sent directly to Editor-in-Chief Kerry Carney at [email protected].

Corrections (also cited as corrigenda) are changes requested by authors to their articles at any point after acceptance. Requests for these changes should be sent directly to the editor-in-chief, who will evaluate the impact of the change and what consequent action should be taken. Should the correction request be received prior to posting online or printing and be deemed appropriate, the correction(s) will be made at that time to the article. Corrections requested after online and print publication will be made to the online version of the Journal of the California Dental Association with a mention at the end of the article. Corrections to the print article will be included in a notice labeled “Author Corrections” in the next issue subsequent to the correction being accepted by the editor-in-chief. If the editor-in-chief thinks that the requested corrections do not clarify, enhance or otherwise improve the article, that decision will be communicated to the author(s) and no indication of the request or its contents will be included in either the print or online version of the Journal.

Errata are the identification and correction of errors in an article made by the publisher at any stage in the editorial process. Most of these errors are highlighted to the author at the proof stage. Ideally, the author identifies and corrects the errors before final publication so that an accurate article is published online and in print. Publisher errors found by the author after final publication should be sent to the editor-in-chief, who will ensure that a notice of errata be immediately posted online and included in the next print issue following receipt of the author’s notification.

Retractions of an accepted article that has been published in both the online and print versions of the Journal of the California Dental Association are made based on requests by the author, the publisher or a third party. The retraction of an article signifies that the contents should not be considered valid or used as the basis for future research. Retraction requests are based on a variety of reasons, from errors in conclusions to gross misconduct (such as falsification of data) to plagiarism (or self-plagiarism). Upon identification of the need for a retraction, the article will be immediately removed from the online version of the Journal of the California Dental Association and a notice will be included in the next issue of the print version of the Journal of the California Dental Association following the determination. In some instances, an apology may be included in the retraction notice. If a third party identifies the need for a retraction, the editor-in-chief may decide to acknowledge that person’s contribution to the maintenance of a high standard of accuracy in the Journal of the California Dental Association.